Archive for the 'Tennessee' Tag Under 'USC' Category

Lane Kiffin's decision to offer scholarships to middle school football players was widely mocked a few years ago, but it worked at Tennessee this week.

On college football's national signing day Wednesday, twin brothers Elliott and Evan Berry signed with Tennessee. They had been offered scholarships in 2009, in seventh grade, by Kiffin, who spent one season as Tennessee's coach before he jumped to USC.

A year later, Kiffin repeated the act when he offered seventh-grade quarterback David Sills a scholarship to USC. Sills accpted, and remains committed to USC four years later, but it's increasingly unlikely that Sills will attend USC.

Last month, new USC coach Steve Sarkisian got a verbal commitment from Ricky Town, one of the top two quarterbacks in the class of 2015. Incidentally, Town had previously been committed to Alabama, where Kiffin is now the offensive coordinator.

Kiffin didn't bet wrong on Sills, though. Sills is ranked as a four-star recruit by Rivals and is listed as the No. 12 quarterback in the class of 2015.

The newspaper examined the class and projected that only one player will have gone through four years in the Tennessee program and get selected in this week's NFL Draft. Some have transferred, some left school early and some just simply didn't pan out as expected.

Of course, every school and every recruiting cycle can include stories such as this one, but it can also be a solid reminder that a coach's presumed recruiting acumen -- one of Kiffin's strengths, as cited by USC athletic director Pat Haden -- sometimes requires deeper examination.

-- Nickell Robey and Robert Woods are still waiting to receive their NFL draft evaluations. Woods is expected to make his decision in the next couple weeks and Robey said he would consider going pro only if he projects as a first- or second-round pick.

-- Receivers coach Tee Martin said he is "recruiting" and encouraging Woods to stay for his senior season. Martin also joked that he is "still losing Twitter followers" after he decision to stay at USC rather than take a job at Tennessee, his alma mater.

-- Matt Barkley attended practice today but is still recovering from his sprained shoulder and won't practice until at least Wednesday. Max Wittek and Cody Kessler continue to share practice time, but Wittek will play in the Sun Bowl if Barkley is unable to play.

USC receivers coach Tee Martin has declined an offer from Tennessee, his alma mater, to fill the same role.

Martin flew to Knoxville on Monday to meet with new Volunteers coach Butch Jones, who had previously offered him the position. Martin was the quarterback of Tennessee's 1998 national championship team, and a road on campus is named in his honor.

Martin, 34, is in his first season at USC and will be able to work with Marqise Lee, an All-American and probable Heisman Trophy candidate, for at least one more season.

''I was very honored to be offered a position on Coach Jones' Tennessee staff. I truly believe he will do an outstanding job with the Vols program. My decision to remain at USC was the toughest I have ever had to make because Tennessee is such a special place to me.

USC receiver Marqise Lee added to his collection of awards Tuesday when The Associated Press made him a first-team selection on its annual All-America team.

Lee joined Baylor's Terrance Williams as a first-team receiver. Lee, a sophomore, is one of only five underclassmen on the 25-player first team. Lee set Pac-12 Conference single-season records for receptions (112) and receiving yards (1,680) and is the conference's offensive player of the year.

Last week, Lee became USC's first winner of the Biletnikoff Award, given to the top college top receiver. He become USC's 160th first-team All-America selection, and the ninth first-team receiver (Lynn Swann, Curtis Conway, Johnnie Morton, Keyshawn Johnson, Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, Robert Woods).

In some further good news for Lee, media outlets in Tennessee have reported this morning that USC receivers coach Tee Martin has turned down the same role on the Volunteers' staff. Martin met with new Tennessee coach Butch Jones about the job offer on Monday.

USC receivers coach Tee Martin went to Knoxville to meet with new Tennessee coach Butch Jones on Monday about the possibility of filling the same role on Jones' staff. Martin's timetable for making a decision is not known.

Martin, 34, is in his fourth year of coaching and his first at USC. Martin was the quarterback of Tennessee's 1998 national championship team and is a native of Alabama. Martin's coaching acumen is well-regarded, and last week USC's Marqise Lee won the Biletnikoff Award as the country's top college receiver.

At his introductory press conference last week, Jones said he would reach out to Martin. Tennessee's Rivals.com website posted a picture of Martin and his family arriving at the Knoxville airport Monday. USC doesn't practice again until Saturday because of final exams.

It hasn't exactly been a cozy relationship between the USC and Tennessee football programs in recent years, and new Volunteers coach Butch Jones probably didn't help matters Friday.

During his introductory press conference, Jones was asked about the possibility of hiring Tee Martin, current USC receivers coach and quarterback of Tennessee's 1998 national championship team, as one of his new assistant coaches.

``Obviously, he's a great coach and we all understand what he's meant to this program,'' Jones said, ``so he would be an individual that we would reach out to, but we're going to reach out to a lot of people.''

While there are no strict tampering rules in NCAA football, it's more than a bit eyebrow-raising to hear Jones speak publicly about the possibility of poaching a coach from another school, particularly during a hot recruiting period. USC coach Lane Kiffin is highly unpopular in Tennessee because he left his job as Volunteers coach after one season to come to USC.

Martin, 34, is in his first season at USC after two seasons as receivers coach at Kentucky. It's not known how seriously he would consider an overture from Jones to return to his alma mater.

Tennessee's football program had its probation period extended by two years today, part of penalties for rule-breaking that took place while USC coach Lane Kiffin coached the Volunteers.

Willie Mack Garza, an assistant under Kiffin at Tennessee, was found to have provided impermissible travel and lodging to a prospective player. Tennessee was hit with reductions in official visits from recruits and other minor punishments, and will now be on probation until Aug. 2015.

Garza received a three-year show-cause order. Any school hiring him must prove to the NCAA that it is rules compliant. Garza followed Kiffin to USC but resigned abruptly shortly before last season.

The NCAA ruled Garza reimbursed talent scout Will Lyles for plane tickets and hotel expenses associated with an unofficial visit Lache Seastrunk made in 2009. The visit occurred outside the permissible time period for expense-paid visits.

USC coach Lane Kiffin discussed how people perceive him, his legacy at Tennessee and his peace treaty with Urban Meyer in a wide-ranging interview with the Altanta Journal-Constitution. Here are some of the highlights:

(on how he still gets blamed for everything at Tennessee)

"It is what it is. ... I know this: I did everything the right way there, as you can see what came out of the NCAA's investigation. The goal was to make Tennessee better every day. That's what we strived to do every day we were there."

(on making up with Meyer, former coach at Florida and current coach at Ohio State)

“I'm glad Urban and I are where we are in our relationship. When you're young, you make some mistakes. We've moved forward from that. ... I have tremendous respect for what Urban Meyer does.”

USC will hire former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin as its receivers coach, according to reports.

Martin has been the receivers coach at Kentucky the past two seasons. He also served as the school's passing-game coordinator last season and is considered one of the nation's best recruiters.

A USC spokesman declined to confirm Martin's hiring, noting that the school had yet to officially announce any recent additions. (A high-ranking USC football official confirmed the reported but still unofficial hirings of linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton and secondary coach Marvin Sanders.) USC coach Lane Kiffin was not immediately available for comment.